The General Synod elected 12 at large members to the United Church of Christ Board at its Plenary session on Monday, July 14.
The UCC Board comprises up to 52 members, of whom 36 are elected by General Synod. Under the current UCC Bylaws, members serve over the course of three General Synods, or six years. With the change to a triennial Synod, this would result in nine-year terms for UCC Board members.
Should the General Synod approve amendments to the Bylaws, each member elected today will revert to serving a six year term.
Members elected today were:
Bret Bicoy (Hope Church, Door County, Wis.)
Indigo Brown (Plymouth United Church of Christ, Seattle, Wash.)
Cynthia Butts (Ainsworth United Church of Christ, Portland, Ore.)
Elizabeth Brunson (Reformed Church of the Ascension, Norristown, Pa.)
Equilla L. Curry (Faith United Church of Christ, York, Pa.)
Josann Jenks (Kawaiaha‘o Church, United Church of Christ, Honolulu, Hawaii)
Ali Lopez-Valcarcel (The United Church of Christ Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas)
Janese Murray (New Covenant Community United Church of Christ, Catonsville, Md.)
Sara Rabe (First Congregational United Church of Christ, Fort Atkinson, Wis.)
Jennifer Smith (Holladay United Church of Christ, Salt Lake City, Utah)
ivy tillman (United Church of Christ, Madison, Ala.)(Ed.: all lowercase spelling on name)
William Thomas Young IV (Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ, Washington, D.C.)
Complete biographies of each newly elected Board member may be found on the General Synod Web site at this link.
The Nominating Committee noted in its report that while the demographic composition of the newly-nominated class substantially complies with Bylaws requirements, the percentage of candidates under the age of 30 was 8 percent. This is less than than half of the requirement of 20%. They also reported that two Conferences had more than three nominees.
The Nominating Committee reports that it has increased its outreach at youth and young adult events to increase interest among under-30 UCC members. It noted that the issue with Conference representation is a consequence of Conference mergers in recent years and may need to be addressed in the Bylaws.
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